Last weekend, a few of us drove up to Canberra to attend the Australian Environment Foundation conference.

“You need to get out more!” my kids always say . Anyway, we went and it was fun. Immediately below is my report, followed by a separate report from David McMullen.

It was an interesting and refreshing experience to meet with people outside my normal circles.

I enjoyed being among people engaged in real-world politics which could make a positive difference in the here and now (see DavidMc’s report below for more details). For decades now “leftwing politics” has been the politics of protest and abstract demand that those in charge to make things all better.

Most of what Norton says about the Make Education Fair submission seems fairly true. While some of the examples may be true (there’s rarely enough proof to clearly say that bias is as bad as they say), it’s a reactionary document, which seems to push the idea that any sort of university course that questions the status quo is illegitimate in itself. It’s also poorly argued and appears to take quotes out of context to push its point.

Is there no end to corporate greenwash? In Australia we now have postage stamps nagging us to “save energy”, “travel smart”, “reduce waste” and “save water”. What about a stamp telling us to save on human effort? That is the only genuinely scarce resource.